a "bold" route done in 1988 has been retro bolted, without the consent of the F.A party...
Its a bummer when i see these things happen as it seems to degrade the effort of the FA party and weaken the standards set back in the day, when we had less advanced gear, shoes, no gyms to train in etc.. todays climber should have no problem stepping up to the plate and giving it an honest go instead of creating short cuts to make an ascent...

I have drilled plenty of bolts, on the lead, on rappel, some bold routes, some well protected.. but i have never added bolts to someone else's route, not even on the Muir Wall. Come on people, go find virgin rock to enjoy the thrills of an FA, but please leave the standards of yesterday intact.
kurt

I've come to realize over time.. not every route needs to be "safe". Hell some routes don't ever need to be repeated.. There's millions of miles of stone out there to climb without messing with someone elses route.

Not only does the child piss on others accomplishments, he even questions whether they did them in the first place:

Reportedly freed by Thom Byrne in 1988, Archangel remained largely ignored until 2013. If Byrne freed it, his ascent was extremely bold.

.12c, not exactly an Earth-shattering grade these days (although I'd love to be able to climb that grade right now!). But to question whether it was even freed, because it would have been too hard, adds to the incredulousness action of the dim-wit.

Yup, I had the same sentiments when I saw it on MP as well.
Nothing new for BoCan, or Dream-your-a-hard-climber-Canyon, though.
I've given up and gotten used to it. It's just the direction that climbing seems to be going; no more room for new bolted routes, might as well retro-bolt the ones nobody ever does.

Edit:^^^ You could compare this to Double Cross if it now had 14 bolts running up it. Not really the same thing....

If it is a bold climb, with general knowlege that it really has been free climbed. Than the RETRO is wrong.

But some climbs that have been "climbed" are still in question if this is true or not. Look at some of the more questionable climbs in Southern California... Refiners Fire ... 14B, heck there was $10,000 riding on someone climbing that free, so if one day it gets retro bolted and freed, might not be a big deal.

On the other hand if the EDGE gets retro-bolted there will be hell to pay.

any way you look at it its a bummer. dumbing down the sport for another blog post.
folks need to look outside the front range, there are plenty of new routes to be had, just have to drive and hike a bit.
can this post get to 100? 200? 10,000?
HAHAHAHAAAAAA..

This seems to be a trend. History ignored or forgotten. I've had several of my routes from the 70's and early 80's retro bolted on rappel and erased, renamed, and new "first ascents" recorded over them. They weren't of earth shattering difficulty, just 5.10-11, but you had to think to accomplish them with a margin of safety. The illusion of safety- from cradle to grave.

A little surprised that I don't read much about people chopping bolts here...

Just doesn't happen 'round here. Climbers just shrug their shoulders and say that the route should be chopped, but nobody does it. Climbers say silly things like "if you don't like the bolts don't clip them" or "my personal protest is to not clip the bolt". Similarly, "my personal protest to chipped holds is to not touch that hold." Oh so brave....

Really what this boils down to is did the FA/FFA give permission to retro-bolt? Anyone?

Who gives a sh#t? Climbing should really be for you - should be about cheering for others you think do proud work, and otherwise minding your own business. They aren't chipping new holds or tearing down the rock, so does it really affect you? It really boils down to measuring peckers, which if you're secure in yourself, is a waste of time for all involved.

Spot on. Who really cares. This is an obscure climb. The dude that put up the route should really be the only one with a say in the matter.

Not a fan of the behavior but really why freak out about it you were not the one that first put the route up.

Retrobolting in Boulder Canyon has been a fairly common theme the last 20 years after the bolt ban that started in the Flatirons and the beginning of the bolt review board that is regulating Eldorado Canyon. Only recently has the Flatirons gotten its own bolt review board to dictate which crags can see new development.

Locals that knew better just shrugged their shoulders and let the sportos take over that chossy Canyon since there are 1,000's of other trad routes in town which will never be bolted and are more fun to climb.

Unfortunately this lackadaisical attitude resulted in 100's of routes in BC getting retrobolted. The Sport Park was all top ropes and bold leads until it was rediscovered, Tonnere Tower was completely covered in lichen, trees, and loose blocks until some blowhard that wanted to up his Mountain Project points destroyed that cool green ecosystem just so they can preen and strut in front of the tourists at Boulder Falls.

Castle Rock and the Dome are the last few hold outs from the retro bolting.

It's only Boulder Canyon, where noobs have easy access to the rock and then back to town where they can spray on MP while sipping chai. Nothing new to see here and far from a growing trend at the other crags about town.